Write The Book: Conversations on Craft

Philip Graham - Interview #299 (6/23/14)

Write the Book's 300th (!) episode features an interview with Philip Graham, author of two story collections, The Art of the Knock and Interior Design; a novel, How to Read an Unwritten Language; and The Moon, Come to Earth, an expanded version of his series of McSweeney's dispatches from Lisbon. He is also the co-author (with his wife, anthropologist Alma Gottlieb) of two memoirs of Africa, Parallel Worlds (winner of the Victor Turner Prize), and Braided Worlds. Dzanc Books will reprint The Art of the Knock, Interior Design, and How to Read an Unwritten Language as ebooks this summer.

This week’s Write the Book Prompt is inspired by the interview you heard today with the author Philip Graham. We spoke about the appearance of objects in written work. As Philip mentioned, his 1979 short story, “Light Bulbs,” chronicled how a couple coping with the “empty nest” grew to form relationships with the light bulbs in their home, almost as a substitute for their absent children. This week, as you work, consider the objects that show up in your work. In particular, pay attention to those objects that already exist there. Try to understand what they might be doing for your story, and how your appreciation of their existence might deepen what you’re writing.

Good luck with this prompt and please listen next week for another.

Music credits: 1) “Dreaming 1″ - John Fink; 2) “Filter” - Dorset Greens (a Vermont band featuring several former South Burlington High School students, now alums). 

 

Richard McCann - Archive Interview #298 (6/16/14)

Interview from the archives with Richard McCann, author of Mother of Sorrows (Vintage 2006).

This week’s  Write The Book Prompt, in honor of father’s day, which was yesterday, is to write 500 words about a father and child. Use sensory detail and specifics to convey as much as you can about this relationship without using backstory to tell the reader all about their history, and without falling into sentimentality. 

 

Good luck with this prompt and please listen next week for another.

Music credits: 1) “Dreaming 1″ - John Fink; 2) “Filter” - Dorset Greens (a Vermont band featuring several former South Burlington High School students, now alums).

 

Elizabeth Bluemle - Interview #297 (6/9/14)

Vermont children's author and bookstore owner Elizabeth Bluemle, whose latest book, Tap Tap Boom Boom, came out in March from Candlewick Press.

 

This week’s  Write The Book Prompt was suggested by my guest, Elizabeth Bluemle. Write a paragraph using only words that have four or fewer letters. This is not an exercise in writing for children. Write about an experience. One that works very well, says Elizabeth, is to write about how you got a scar. Almost everyone has at least one small scar. The outcome might seem stilted at first, but it makes your brain work around itself and take pathways you’re not used to taking, to express something. Interesting things always come out of doing that. You are tricking your brain into discovery.

Good luck with this prompt and please listen next week for another.

Music credits: 1) “Dreaming 1″ - John Fink; 2) “Filter” - Dorset Greens (a Vermont band featuring several former South Burlington High School students, now alums).

Joshua Ferris - Interview #296 (6/2/14)

National Book Award Finalist Joshua Ferris, whose new novel is To Rise Again At A Decent Hour, published by Little Brown.

This week's Write The Book Prompt  concerns titles, because I think To Rise Again At A Decent Hour is a fantastic title. I’d love to do an entire show about finding good titles. They are the first words most of us ever see about a book, and they can prompt a potential reader to investigate further, or just walk on by. This week, spend a little time thinking about how you might like to title a piece you’re working on. Initially, just spend time with the piece, without making comparisons about other titles that are out there in the world. Then do a study: scan titles at a library or bookstore. Pick up a collection of stories or poems (preferably an anthology, or a Best American collection, so that you’re studying the names of various writers’ works). Take notes about which selections you might want to read, based on title alone. Look for patterns in your own tastes, and in what you see getting published. Are you more drawn to titles that include a character’s name, or a place, or a hint of the plot? Do you prefer titles that are quirky, like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time or Me Talk Pretty One Day? Or do you gravitate to more straightforward titles: The Goldfinch, The Bird Artist. Look once more at the piece you’re working on and think about how you might title it. Hopefully you’ll have some new ideas.

Good luck with this prompt and please listen next week for another.

Music credits: 1) “Dreaming 1″ - John Fink; 2) “Filter” - Dorset Greens (a Vermont band featuring several former South Burlington High School students, now alums).

Colum McCann - Archive Interview #295 (5/26/14)

Interview from the archives with the author Colum McCann. We discussed his National Book Award winning novel, Let the Great World Spin. His novel TransAtlantic, published in 2013 by Random House, has just come out in paperback.

This week's Write The Book Prompt is to write about someone's first flight. 

Good luck with this prompt and please listen next week for another. 

Music credits: 1) “Dreaming 1″ - John Fink; 2) “Filter” - Dorset Greens (a Vermont band featuring several former South Burlington High School students, now alums).